1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved method of selling and manufacturing footwear, and more particularly, to a method of selling footwear online and then custom fitting each shoe to the customer's feet.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is widely known that foot sizes and shapes vary greatly from individual to individual. It is also widely known that the length, width, size and location of bunions and calluses on an individual's feet also vary. Unfortunately, most pairs of shoes sold are identical in size and do not take into consideration the variations in an individual's feet.
Today, footwear retailers must carry hundreds of pairs of shoes in different styles and sizes. The number of pairs of shoes of a particular style usually follows a bell curve with the smallest and largest sizes located on opposite ends of the bell curve and the most common sizes located in the middle. In order to reduce their inventory, most footwear retailers carry large quantities of shoes in the most common sizes and small quantities of shoes in small and large sizes. Customers with small or large feet who prefer a large selection of shoes must find footwear retailers that carry larger inventories of small or large size shoes or place special orders for their shoes and wait for shoes to be shipped to them.
Approximately 30% of shoes purchased by customers who buy online today are returned to the retailer. A large percentage of the returns are due to discomfort that many believe could have been identified and addressed at the time of purchase. Unfortunately, many customers purchase shoes based on appearance and not on comfort and support. Even when discomfort is experienced, many customers attribute the discomfort to general stiffness and mistakenly believe that the discomfort will gradually dissipate when the shoes are worn and ‘broken in’. Later, after wearing the shoes for several days and realizing that the discomfort is not dissipating, the customer decides to return the shoes or discards them.
Changes are being made throughout the retail industry to reduce the costs of goods. While manufacturing and shipping costs are important factors that influence the price of the goods, how goods are packaged, distributed and sold are also important factors. Examples of changes in the retail industry regarding how goods are packaged, distributed and sold are seen in the rising popularity of warehouse retail outlets, self-help discount stores and home improvement centers.
In addition to these changes, ordering merchandise over the Internet from online retail websites has become very popular. Unfortunately, online shoe retailers must confront the problem of customers not being able to ‘try on’ the shoes prior to purchasing them. As a result, some online shoe retailers will deliver several shoes of a particular style made in different sizes to a customer who, after ‘trying on’ the shoes, will select one pair and then return the other pairs to the online shoe retailer. Obviously, the cost of shipping the returned pairs of shoes is inefficient and increases the overall costs of the shoes. Many customers who may not be completely satisfied with the pair of shoes they ordered after they have been delivered, will accept the shoes out of a feeling of responsibility or an obligation to the online shoe retailer. As a result, many customers who purchased footwear from an online shoe retailer are dissatisfied and ‘turned off’ by the experience.
What is needed is an improved method of selling and distributing shoes that: (1) allows a customer to purchase shoes on a ‘self help’ basis either from a website or a retail store; (2) allows a shoe retailer to reduce the number of sizes offered for a particular style of shoe which thereby allows the shoe retailer to offer greater varieties of different styles of shoes; and (3) reduces the number of shoes being returned due to an improper fit or support.